Ingebrigtsen in Liévin comeback

After an illness-hit start to the new year, Norwegian tackles 1500m at a French meeting that also features Karsten Warholm, Mondo Duplantis and Keely Hodgkinson

Twelve months ago Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a world indoor 1500m record of 3:30.60 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, France. On Wednesday (Feb 15) he is back at the same event in the 1500m again, but it is the 22-year-olds first race since December following a bout of illness during January.

In Turin in December he won his sixth European cross-country title in style. But he pulled out of the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona over the new year period due to illness and continued to have problems at an altitude training camp a few days later.

Judging from his indoor training session videos posted on his Instagram recently, though, he appears to be back in full training and his rivals in Liévin include Teddese Lemi of Ethiopia, Adel Mechaal of Spain and Michal Rozmys of Poland.

This year had a rough start, as Ive been struggling with a sore throat, he says. Now Im finally starting to feel like myself, and working towards what I love the most winning races and running fast.

Gudaf Tsegay has also set a world 1500m record in Liévin in the past and, like Ingebrigtsen, the Ethiopian is back at the scene of her success in 2021 and hoping to improve her mark of 3:53.09.

Liévin has attracted many of the biggest names on the circuit and Mondo Duplantis is in the mens pole vault just days after his world record attempts in Berlin.

Kevin Mayer, the world decathlon record-holder, is in action in the long jump and 60m hurdles.

Femke Bol runs the 400m and will hope to build on the superb 49.96 that she ran in Metz on Saturday. Her rivals include Anna Kielbasinka but the Dutch athlete is unlikely to be troubled as she attacks Jarmila Kratochvilovas long-standing world indoor record of 49.59.

Karsten Warholm is in a similar position in the 400m. After an injury-hit 2022, the Norwegian 400m hurdles world record-holder has started the indoor season in great form and could get close to his European indoor record of 45.05 in the final event of the night.

Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy is due to race the mens 60m. His opposition includes Commonwealth 100m champion Ferdinand Omanyala and the Ivory Coasts Arthur Cisse.

There are not many Brits in Liévin probably due to the UK Indoor Championships starting three days later but Keely Hodgkinson is not entered for her national championships and instead races over 800m in Liévin.

She faces Noelie Yarigo, the Benin athlete who proved her closest rival in Toruń last week. Mary Moraa, the Commonwealth champion, was disappointing in Toruń but is again in the line-up in Liévin, along with Halimah Nakaayi and Catriona Bissett among others.

The 3000m races have strong fields with the mens event featuring Thierry Ndikumwenayo, Lamecha Girma, Grant Fisher, Mo Katir, Jacob Krop and Birhanu Balew, while the womens race has Ethiopians Lemlem Hailu, Diribe Welteji and Ejgayehu Taye.

In the mens race, Daniel Komens long-standing world indoor record of 7:24.90 could be under threat.

Elsewhere Grant Holloway leads the mens 60m hurdles line-ups. Fellow American Katie Moon (née Nageotte) heads the womens pole vault field and will face European champion Wilma Murto of Finland. Olympic champion Miltiádis Tentóglou goes in the mens long jump.